


This'll Be Nice, This'll Be Neat And Bring You Closer To Me

by We_deserve_rainbows



Series: Mechtober 2020 [4]
Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Angst, Failed mechanization, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abusive Relationship(s), Medical Malpractice, Minor Character Death, Surgery, Time Shenanigans, Unethical Medicine, Vampires, surgery where the patient is aware
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26958385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/We_deserve_rainbows/pseuds/We_deserve_rainbows
Summary: Carmilla did not perfect the process of Mechanization right away; The Toy Soldier finds itself somewhere new.Vampires + Death
Relationships: Dr Carmilla & The Toy Soldier (The Mechanisms)
Series: Mechtober 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949812
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	This'll Be Nice, This'll Be Neat And Bring You Closer To Me

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to entropy for helping me with this, xey are meteornight on here, check xem out :)

The Toy Soldier wasn't entirely sure how it had ended up here, the last thing it remembered was raiding a rebel scientist lab with the Rose Reds. There had been a brilliant flash of light and then it was here, in a dark alleyway somewhere that was certainly not the Periphery. 

It wasn't quite certain what to do, so it didn't do anything, it stood up from where it had landed on the ground and stood stock-still. It stayed that way for more than a couple hours until it felt a tap on its shoulder. It turned to see a tall woman with a cane.

Ever the gentleman, it snapped a sharp salute and said, “Hello! Pleased To Make Your Acquaintance!”

She looked it up and down and held out her hand, “Carmilla, but call me Doctor.”

It took her hand and shook it twice, up and down, just like it had been taught, “I'm The Toy Soldier!”

Her face turned slightly when she felt it's hand, “Do you have any blood, Toy Soldier?” 

What a strange question, nonetheless, the Soldier was nothing if not polite, “Not On Me!”

“Pity. I could have used a meal.” She smiled softly and the Toy Soldier saw sharp teeth that it was almost certain humans didn't usually have. 

It had absolutely _no idea_ what to do with that so it just tilted it's head slightly and said, “I Apologize Doctor.”

She shook her head, “No it's fine, I'll find someone else, you seem like you could be useful anywho. Come along.” she turned and languidly walked away, the clicks of her cane and her heels echoing through the alley. 

It followed after her, it's steady marching was out of its control the moment the order left her lips. They walked for some time, Carmilla talking absently about whatever was on her mind. She mentioned something about machines and immortality, and when the Toy Soldier asked a polite follow-up question her demeanor changed.

“Oh, Soldier! I'm going to make a family! I’m going to save them and make sure they never die!” She sighed and smiled softly, “It's going to be so wonderful.”

Now, the Toy Soldier wasn't going to bring it up, because it would be rude to interrupt with a contradiction, but Carmilla reminded it of the Widow that it had known all those years ago. She had wanted her husband back, she had wanted her family back. So she took something that wasn’t her husband and made it pretend, she had made it believe that she was doing it a favor by pretending to be its wife.

If she hadn't, of course, the Toy Soldier wouldn't have been anything, it probably wouldn't exist if she hadn’t made it do that. But the thing is, it wasn't her husband, and the things it was made to do were her choice, not it's. And no matter the “good” that the Widow had done, it grew to resent her by the time she died. 

As the Toy Soldier was considering this, Doctor Carmilla had moved on to discuss the technical side of what she was planning to do. The Soldier had a hard time keeping up with her thought process, but it tried to nod at the right times and ask the right questions.

Eventually, they reached a door. Carmilla turned to the Soldier, “Okay, I have to go get someone, when I get back you must help me.”

The Toy Soldier saluted, Carmilla had an air of authority that the Soldier knew meant that her Orders were to be respected. She opened the door and pushed the Soldier inside, before closing the door just as quickly as it had been opened. 

In the hour and a half, it waited before Carmilla returned it looked around the lab that it found itself in. It was no expert on the medical field, but it hadn’t seen anything like this before. It looked like someone had tried very hard to sterilize everything, and at a glance, it looked like they had succeeded. If you looked a bit closer, however, you could see the rust color in every nook of the room. Had anyone else been in that room, the stark light might have made the brown difficult, impossible even, to identify.

But the Toy Soldier was very familiar with dried blood. 

What confused it the most, however, was the mechanical body part laid out neatly on the metal tray by the cot. It looked to be a collarbone made entirely of… gold? It had a sheen of rainbow that made it hard for the Soldier to identify. The clockwork was very complicated, and it was enthralled in following the mechanics of the gears and wires, it lost track of time, and eventually, the door opened again. 

The Doctor walked in, holding the door open for a girl who looked to be in their early twenties. They were laughing together as they walked in, but when the girl got a good look at where exactly they were she stopped abruptly and turned to Carmilla.

“Carmilla where are we?” she said, their voice not quite fearful, but they seemed to be on edge.

“Didn't you say you wanted to be better, Sylvie?” Carmilla said, her voice full of excitement and hope.

“I mean yeah… can you really fix it?”

Carmilla nodded and led her to the cot, “I’m going to have to strap you down, okay dear?”

Sylvie nodded nervously and hopped onto the cot, glancing at the Toy Soldier.

“Toy Soldier. Help me with these buckles.” 

“Right-O Doctor!” it said, springing into action to strap the girl to the cot.

Once she was strapped down, Carmilla reached for a syringe full of clear liquid on the tray.

At the sight of was assumed to be anesthetic Sylvie seemed to calm down slightly, the trust that she clearly held for Carmilla overcame the gut reaction to run. She winced when Carmilla gently injected them with the liquid, but smiled at her shakily and took a deep breath while she waited to drift off.

“Soldier, hand me a scalpel.” She said using the scissors she had on hand to cut Sylvies' shirt away. It complied and she examined her collarbone with a critical eye, before bringing the scalpel to her skin.

“C-Carmilla! I’m still awake!” Sylvie yelped, trying her hardest to flinch away from the blade.

The Doctor was enthralled in her work, but she looked up at Sylvie with a gentle expression, “You need to be awake my dear, don't worry, what I gave you should dull the pain, but you need to be awake.”

“W-What?! No, Carmilla no!” but Carmilla was already back to her work, and despite the clear excitement on her face, her hand didn't shake as she brought the blade to her skin. 

The Toy Soldier was definitely not an expert, but she didn't look like her pain was “dulled” as the scalpel cut through her flesh. In fact, her cries of pain reminded the Soldier of the sounds that it's comrades made in the last few minutes of their lives. It wanted to help her, it wanted to stop the pain that they felt, but it was under Orders to help the Doctor. So it just stood there, looking at the blood flowing from her chest, helpless to do anything. 

Carmilla stood over Sylvie, gazing down at the off white of her twisted collarbone. She smiled at her work, and looked at the Soldier, “Hand me the saw.”

Sylvie was trying her hardest to keep her cries of pain quiet because, despite everything, she still trusted Carmilla. Maybe that was a mistake. But they still couldn't help but feel safe when Carmilla brushed their hair out of their face and whispered calming platitudes to her.

She didn't start screaming until the saw cut into her. She screamed and begged for Carmilla to stop, but the Doctor only shushed her and continued, telling her that it was all going to be okay. She started yelling, _screaming_ , at the Toy Soldier to help her, begging it to stop the pain. 

But when the Order came and it moved to help Carmilla looked at it, “Don't.” her authority was more complete than the wavering voice of the girl on the table. 

The screaming continued. Until it didn't. Until the pained cries faded and her eyes closed. 

Carmilla's face fell and she dropped the saw, the loud clattering of metal on tile not making her flinch, “No no no no no,” she muttered under her breath as she frantically searched for a pulse, 

When she couldn't find one her voice rose “No! No, you need to be okay Sylvie! Please!” her voice broke on the last word. 

She collapsed to the ground, leaning back onto the wall.

The Toy Soldier was not sure what to do, but it was reminded of when the Widow would remember her husband. So it did what it was trained to do, it sat down next to her and offered a wooden hand. 

Carmilla looked over through tear-filled eyes, and took its hand, “She was supposed to be okay…” she whispered, “if I had just gotten her Mechanism in…” 

“I'm Sorry Doctor!” It said, trying to remember the tone of voice that made the Widow feel better.

Carmilla looked over at the Toy Soldier, why was it being kind to her? She let the tears fall as it repeated the things that it was supposed to, trying to console the Doctor.

**Author's Note:**

> Carmilla angst! Failed mechanization! TS angst! kudos and comments appreciated!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] This'll Be Nice, This'll Be Neat And Bring You Closer To Me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27248251) by [alderations](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alderations/pseuds/alderations)




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